Mission Statement

Rock Valley Physical Therapy is dedicated to making better lives by fostering a timely, optimal outcome in a customer focused environment. Our highly skilled and compassionate team provides individualized one-on-one care for each patient. Our patients typically work with one therapist from start to finish. Every team member goes through extensive training and mentorship to ensure that each patient receives the highest level of care. At Rock Valley everything we have and everything we learn is about making better lives, one patient at a time.



We look forward to working with you!



- Amy, Luke, and Rachael



Disclaimer: This blog is intended for informational purposes only and is not to be considered medical advice. It is not intended to replace consultation with a licensed medical profession or qualify as physical therapy treatment. We are under no circumstance liable for advice given on this website.



Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Keys to Prevention of Knee Injuries


As therapists, we know our role is to treat and return athletes as quickly as possible to their sport. With starting a new practice and doing some soul searching, we came to the conclusion that it is great to help athletes after they are injured, but what about helping prevent these injuries and their serious long-term implications altogether? This led us to doing research and developing an injury screening program to help identify those athletes at risk and train them in strategies for prevention. Below, I included exerts from one of many excellent research studies focusing on identification of athletes at risk for injury and training strategies for prevention. I feel this gives a great synopsis of the problem we are facing and where some of the research is taking us on prevention.

"Female athletes are currently reported to be 4 to 6 times more likely to sustain a sports related non-contact ACL injury than male athletes in comparable high-risk sports. The established links between lower limb mechanics and non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk led to the development of neuromuscular training interventions designed to prevent ACL injury by targeting deficits identified in specific populations. Injury prevention protocols have resulted in positive
preventative and biomechanical changes in female athletic populations at high risk for knee injury. There is evidence that neuromuscular training not only reduces the levels of potential biomechanical risk factors for ACL injury, but also decreases knee and ACL injury incidence in female athletes."

Information taken from: Myer et al "Trunk and Hip Control Neuromuscular Training for the Prevention of Knee Joint Injury" Clin Sports Med. 2008. July

Factors that contribute to lower body injury:
• Center of mass away from the foot (decreased trunk control)
• Knee abduction (ligament dominance)
• Low hip and knee flexion (quadriceps dominance)
• Single leg weight bearing (leg dominance)

Jumping/landing cues:
• Land with feet hip width
• Land soft with quiet impact (hip/knee flexion)
• Land with both feet at the same time and even weight distribution
• Land with an erect trunk
• Land on toes and absorb through mid-foot
• Perform each exercise with partner feedback for perfect technique

Soccer ACL injury videos:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHgu5e9K3Ww&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Mdm4v-ty8&feature=related



Basketball ACL injury videos:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1VLN2dlbV0



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAzUp_YLVIM